Forever with me
by WhiteFox
Summary: When all you have are memories....


Author:WhiteFox  
  
Part: 1/1  
  
Title: Forever with me  
  
Disclaimer: Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. I'm using it for non-profit purposes. All rights belong to its proper owner Konami-sensei.  
  
A/N: This is yaoi which means homosexual love or M/M. Don't blame me if you skipped this and went straight to the fic only to find it's offended you 'delicate' sensibilities.  
  
Warning: Character Death.  
  
"Echizen..."  
  
Golden eyes, intense and piercing. They stared at you with all the force of an avalanche. Not many could understand the driving force behind that stare. Many saw a dispassionate gaze and nothing more. But there was so much more conveyed in those cat-like eyes. All the emotions that he never put into words, anger, ambition, sadness, dissapointment, surprise, happiness, peace...Love.  
  
A porcelain face, all childish beauty, never aging. It was the kind of face that would be forever young, no matter how many years it faced. No amount of wrinkles or lines would ever age this doll's features. Fair skin, amazingly fair with the amount of time it spent exposed to the sun. And smooth, like silk. unblemished and unmarked, it was an expanse of unspoiled beauty. Like a new land untouched by man. All raw beauty.  
  
The body was small, a doll-like body to suit the features but with non of its physical fragility. The body was strong. Wiry muscles which stretched and compressed under that beautiful skin, making light play over the sweat slicked skin in different angles. The body was always moving, always active except in rest. And when it moved at its optimum, he seemed to glow. An inner light which emanated from him, claiming the attention of others. Drawing their gazes to him, to watch him as he moved and stay frozen until he stopped and released them from his unconscious spell.  
  
But his mind was also something to remember. Sharp as sunlight, he processed and understood things at an alarming pace. In life and in tennis, he strategized, analyzed and put into motion his plans. Always confident, always wary. He would not let his guard down for just anyone.   
  
"Tezuka..."  
  
He had broken through though. He was so very similar to the golden eyed boy. They had walked almost the same path. With the same drive and the same intensity. In each other, they had found a kindred spirit.  
  
So precious, each word spoken to each other. No idle chatter. Everything they said had a meaning obvious or not, it was there. And they understood what the other was trying to convey. But above all, the most precious words had been whispered but once. And then always, always he would hear it not in words, but in gestures the body made, in the small gentle smile those lips he kissed would curve into and in the softening of those golden orbs as they looked at him.  
  
The love between them ran deeper than most. It was the complete understanding of the other individual to a degree where even arguments became pointless because you knew what the other would say or do and you acted accordingly to avoid it or appease both yourself and your love. It was, perhaps, the closest anyone could ever be certain that the other was a soulmate.  
  
"It's time to go."  
  
And as they walked in silence, Tezuka Kunimitsu collected all his memories of his golden eyed partner and held them close. In his mind's eye, he saw again the bright gold eyes, filled with life and force. He saw the smile which had evolved from a smirk of a child to that of an adult. He saw the way the body undulated under him and his fingers twitched he felt again the smoothness of the pale skin. He wanted to make sure he remembered all these, because memories were precious.   
  
Especially these memories.  
  
Because those golden eyes had dulled to tarnished bronzed and closed.  
  
Because the doll-like face had become still and cold as a doll's.  
  
Because the body had ceased to move, the inner light had faded.  
  
Because that brilliant mind no longer functioned.  
  
Because, three days ago, Echizen Ryoma had died of injuries sustained in a hit and run.  
  
As he watched the coffin be lowered into the ground, Tezuka wrapped himself in his memories of his lover and ignored the tears which trickled down his cheeks.  
  
And when everyone had left, he stood there, numb and bereft at where the other half of himself lay and in that single moment the thought of all the lonely years before him without him nearly broke him.  
  
"Ryoma..."  
  
And as he knelt at the foot of the grave of his life, Tezuka removed his glasses and tilted his head back letting the breeze rifle her fingers through his hair gently.  
  
  
  
In the years to come, Tezuka would visit the grave faithfully every week. And if he stayed very still and closed his eyes, he could hear again that voice he loved saying to him those precious words.  
  
"I love you forever." 


End file.
